The appellant had sought compensation after compulsory acquisition of his land. He had beaten the final offer made by the respondent, but the tribunal had judged the landowner’s offer itself to be so high that it awarded only part of the costs. He appealed.
Held: A finding as to the applicant’s own offer could not justify the reduction in the costs award. The tribunal could disallow costs for a special reason, but the normal award must allow for the reasonable and necessary expenses of determining the amount of the disputed compensation. Valuation is an exercise in judgement, and is imprecise. It would be rare to disallow costs on such a basis. In truth here the tribunal had been requested to make fruitless comparisons with other sites, which had unnecessarily incurred costs, and the award stood.
Judges:
Potter, Chadwick, Wall LLJ
Citations:
Gazette 31-Oct-2002, Times 07-Nov-2002, [2002] EWCA Civ 1430, [2003] 02 EG 105, [2003] P and CR 324, [2002] RVR 368
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Land, Costs
Updated: 29 August 2022; Ref: scu.177729